Search results for "CAPE"

The role and contribution of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile organic matter for secondary consumers as revealed by carbon and nitrogen st…

2002

The δ13C and δ15N values of primary producers and consumers were studied to obtain information on the trophic role of Posidonia oceanica L. Delile, the dominant primary producer, in a Mediterranean shallow environment (the Stagnone di Marsala, western Sicily). δ13C strongly discriminated between pelagic and benthic pathways, with the former based on phytoplankton and the latter on a mixed pool of seagrass detritus, epiphytes and benthic algae as carbon sources. A particularly important trophic role appears to be performed by the vegetal epiphytic community on seagrass leaves (δ13C = -14.9 ± 0.1‰), which supports most of the faunal seagrass community (i.e. Amphipoda, Isopoda, Tanaidacea; δ13…

Developing a scuba trail vulnerability index (STVI): a case study from a Mediterranean MPA

2008

Scuba diving is now one of the major form of commercial use of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world and the control of its potential impacts on the marine environment represents a fundamental key to manage this recreational activity in highly dived areas. A potential tool to tackle such issues has been thought to be the definition of a value of recreational carrying capacity of an area, but this approach has been rarely considered management-effective. Therefore, the first step for effectively managing scuba-diving should be ‘bottom-up’: characterizing the benthic communities potentially affected by diving and evaluating their vulnerability. Aim of this paper is to propose a tool …

3D-Reconstruction of a Giant Posidonia oceanica Beach Wrack (Banquette): Sizing Biomass, Carbon and Nutrient Stocks by Combining Field Data With High…

2022

Beach wracks are temporary accumulations of vegetal detritus that can be found along coastlines all over the world. Although beach wracks are often perceived as a nuisance for beach users, they play a crucial ecological role in carbon and nutrient connectivity across ecosystem boundaries, especially when they reach a relevant size, as in the case of the wedge-shaped seagrass accumulations called banquette. In this study, three-dimensional mapping of a giant Posidonia oceanica banquette was carried out for the first time using high-resolution UAV photogrammetry combined with field sampling and compositional and chemical analysis. The combined approach allowed a reliable estimation of the amo…

Trophic and spatial complementarity on seed dispersal services by birds, wild mammals, and cattle in a Mediterranean woodland pasture

2021

Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T09:47:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-11-01 Università degli Studi di Palermo CYTED Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras Most earth surfaces have undergone intensive land-use changes, creating habitat mosaics. Seed dispersal by animals is a crucial process in such mosaics, but community-wide studies comparing the functional complementarity and response to man-imposed habitat heterogeneity are rare. Here, we investigate the trophic and spatial seed dispersal networks underpinning a strong, woody vegetation expansion over a pastureland inside the largest forest remnant in western Sici…

Priority areas for the conservation of Atlantic forest large mammals

2009

Large mammal faunas in tropical forest landscapes are widely affected by habitat fragmentation and hunting, yet the environmental determinants of their patterns of abundance remain poorly understood at large spatial scales. We analysed population abundance and biomass of 31 species of medium to large-bodied mammal species at 38 Atlantic forest sites (including three islands, 26 forest fragments and six continuous forest sites) as related to forest type, level of hunting pressure and forest fragment size using ANCOVAs. We also derived a novel measure of mammal conservation importance for each site based on a "Mammalian Conservation Priority index" (MPi) which incorporates information on spec…

The cork oak in the Mountains of Palermo (Italy): ecological insights from the south-eastern edge of its distribution range

2020

Abstract: The uneven presence of the cork oak (Quercus suber L.) within its distribution range is not only determined by its climatic requirements but also by specific edaphic needs. Although most of the natural populations thrive in acidic soils deriving from metamorphic or volcanic rock outcrops, some cork oak populations are found growing in soils deriving from calcareous bedrock, which are considered less suitable. We carried out a multidisciplinary investigation at the south eastern edge of the Q. suber distribution range (Mountains of Palermo, NW Sicily), including soil, floristic, and vegetation surveys, aimed at: (i) assessing the native or introduced origin of some peculiar cork oa…

Could cattle ranching and soybean cultivation be sustainable? A systematic review and a meta-analysis for the Amazon

2021

Abstract: Tropical forests are being destroyed to make space for agricultural activities with the assumption that they are required to feed the growing global population. Consequently, more sustainable practices are needed to guarantee food security and environmental protection of highly threatened natural biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon rainforest. Cattle ranching and soybean cultivation are by far the greater drivers of land use change and deforestation in the Amazon region. We performed a systematic review of papers related to these two main drivers and a meta-analysis on the effects of sustainable practices on different ecosystem services. The results of the review highlight a lar…

Fluid escape structures in the Graham Bank region (Sicily Channel, Central Mediterranean) revealing volcanic and neotectonic activity

2016

In the Sicily Channel, (Central Mediterranean), two geodynamic processes overlap each other, the Maghrebides- Apennines accretionary prism and the Sicily Channel rift. Moreover, the northwestern sector (Banks sector) is characterised by an irregular seafloor morphology linked to the recent volcanic and tectonic activity.In order to discriminate the role exerted by both the processes in the morphostructural setting of the area we used a dataset of both high and very high resolution single-channel and multi-channel profiles, acquired in the frame of the RITMARE project respectively with CHIRP and sparker, and airgun sources, and high resolution (5 m cell) morpho-bathymetric data. The data all…

NEOTECTONIC ACTIVITY AND EMISSION OF FLUIDS IN THE NORTHWEST SICILY CHANNEL

The southern Sicilian coast represents an important contribution to Italian tourism, the Sicily Channel is an important communication path because at the top of its seafloor there are many pipelines, and submarine communication cables which are laid to carry signals, and which are very important to the minor islands. In this work, we are presenting results of the detailed geomorphological and seismostratigraphic analysis based on new very high-resolution dataset (multibeam and CHIRP) acquired during the ACUSCAL 2015 Cruise. We also used low resolution bathymetric and seismic data provided from online database (ViDEPI, GEBCO, EMODnet). This study allows us to reconstruct the tectonic volcani…

PROCESSI ATTIVI NEL MARGINE CONTINENTALE DELLA SICILIA NORD-OCCIDENTALE: NEOTETTONICA, RISALITA DI FLUIDI E FENOMENI GRAVITATIVI

2014

La ricerca riguarda l’analisi degli elementi morfostrutturali, le strutture legate alle emissioni di fluidi ed i fenomeni di trasporto sia gravitativo che selettivo, in ambiente sommerso ed emerso, presenti nel settore del margine continentale nord-siciliano compreso tra i meridiani passanti per le isole Egadi e Cefalù, al fine di ottenere un modello evolutivo durante il Quaternario. In particolare sono stati studiati in dettaglio: a) gli elementi morfostrutturali, al fine di ottenere informazioni sull’evoluzione recente dell’area, concentrando l’attenzione sulle faglie recenti e attive, integrando anche le informazioni concernenti la sismicità dell’area, ricavati dai database online; b) le…